Forget Me
by Marionecto
Summary: Jack realizes he cannot demonstrate his actual feelings, being the Pumpkin King everyone loved. He decides to rant about this special feeling that was growing slowly in his heart... But didn't realize a certain someone was listening. One-shot. Sequel/extra text to Forget-Me-Not, mostly because Jack barely shows any affection to Sally in the movie...


Jack Skellington held the sketches the Mayor had given him while pacing in front of his desk, looking at them with a quite melancholic look. Concept art, costume ideas, decoration... The skeleton sat down and threw the papers across the desk, which slid through the smooth surface and stopped near a blue flower.

He was so tired of having to deal with those things, tired of having to hide what he truly thought of everything. He was the Pumpkin King, and he had his duties. Jack was aware of that, but never really paid close attention to the hell his afterlife could come to be. The gentleman felt caged, a bird with a broken wing.

The part of the job that bugged him the most was he had to treat everyone equally. No love, no hate. Be kind to everyone, but not too much. His demonstration of love and hate towards certain individuals could generate serious problems, such as fights and a kind of competition. The skeleton didn't want to have his feelings locked with no key, though.

The blue flower, a forget-me-not, was laying on the desk in perfect state. No petals had come off, and there was no evidence of it coming close to its end either. Jack Skellington hated the fact a simple flower could melt his heart like that.

 _"I-I know it's not much, but... I just wanted to thank you."_

Her voice echoed through his head, and he pressed his hands against it again, frowning deeply.

The Pumpkin King stared at the pile of thank-you gifts he had received, squeezed somewhere inside his closet. From a child's head to a wilting rose bouquet, the variety of gifts he had received surprised him sometimes.

But he knew, deep inside, that they had no meaning.

And this forget-me-not, dare he say it, was worth nothing at all. It was nothing but a blue living flower, small enough to fit on Jack's hand, a faint natural scent coming from it. The skeleton had received so many things worth money, and yet he hated them. And this flower, not worth a cent, had him sighing, whispering something similar to a love poem, spinning it between his fingers to see its petals dance slowly.

And today, all he wanted was to forget about it. Forget about this forget-me-not, forget about the meaning hiding behind its vivid blue petals. Forget about the poems he wanted to dedicate to _her_.

Forget about _her_.

Ah, if he had a choice. If Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, had a choice, these thoughts would never be crossing his mind. He'd never allow them to cross his mind, at least. Being the ruler of Halloween, he was supposed to be allowed to do what he wanted, but he knew problems would rise if he could.

The man's skeletal face turned to stare at the small flower. For the hundredth time, Jack took the forget-me-not and spun it, petals dancing slowly, giving him a reason to sigh and slide the papers to the floor furiously.

The least his philosophy could allow him to do was to have actual friends and maybe start a family with someone. But again, he was the Pumpkin King, and the more he showed he had favorites among the townspeople, the more jealousy and hatred would run across the town. Jack just wouldn't let himself shatter people's dreams like that, even if unintentionally. He knew very well some witches would be tormenting his afterlife eternally if they found out he had a special someone.

Well, yes, he kind of had a special someone, and it wasn't any of the witches. The Pumpkin King would just not let the feeling grow in those circumstances.

If he had a choice, the skeleton would give it all up for _her_.

But he couldn't, obviously. Oogie Boogie had his eyes on Jack's title, and everyone had learned how bad of a leader the sack of bugs could be. Even Lock, Shock and Barrel.

He stood up and looked through the small window. It was raining a little, and no one was around. The sun was about to leave Jack alone, hidden behind the enormous cumulo nimbus, its light becoming fainter and fainter. Soon, his room started to be engulfed in darkness. The skeleton man didn't care, though.

Jack caught himself thinking of her again. He felt the need of banging his head on the wall, but decided to simply sit down again and reflect. The forget-me-not looked abandoned, even though he had only left it alone for a few minutes. The gentleman picked it up and hid it in his suit, delicately adjusting its petals to be hidden perfectly.

The skeleton opened his notebook, skimming it, until he stopped on a special page. 'Forget-me-nots have this name for a reason', the first sentence said. Jack started to read the page, maybe trying to resume the thought.

 _'I can't do this anymore.'_

 _'I'm sure I've never felt this way before.'_

 _'I'm sure there's no way to undo what my heart has become.'_

Jack stared at the flower once again and sighed.

 _'Lock my feelings away: it will be done.'_

The sentences, written by himself, made Jack's heart ache. He'd never felt like that; it was something new, but also something he wanted to get rid of.

o o o o

Closing the notebook slowly and walking out of his home, Jack felt the night breeze kiss his skull. It was night, and the big clouds disappeared within minutes, for the skeleton's surprise.

The graveyard, illuminated by the moonlight, never failed to surprise Jack. The graves, now covered with a little bit of water, seemed to shine even more. The moon was reflected in various water puddles, making the lonely place look even prettier than usual.

He walked to the Spiral Hill, looking closely at some graves, probably checking for hidden creatures. It was a very sensitive matter to the skeleton man, so it was important that only him heard what he was about to say.

She had gotten used to hiding there, even if she knew how wrong that was. Sally was both betraying her creator and her beloved by doing that, but it felt nice. She wanted to know what he felt, what he thought, what he wanted to tell people that he couldn't. Seeing his majestic silhouette walking through the Spiral Hill, the ragdoll crawled closer, hiding in other graves. She was worried about what could happen if Jack found out she was eavesdropping, but she couldn't just run away.

Opening his arms to receive the wind, a habit Sally noticed he had, the skeleton was about to let it out.

"It cannot be," he began, trying to find a way to continue. "I should just give up. But if only I could simply forget it..."

The doll liked the way he tried finding rhymes when being by himself.

"I am the Pumpkin King," Jack looked down at the pumpkin patch, a frown on his skull. "I shall have no friends, no intimacy, no family..."

Sally started combing her hair with her delicate fingers, still hiding. What was all that about?

"But if only I could change it... If only I could do something about it..."

He sighed in an annoyed tone, the sad frown turning into a grumpy face in a question of seconds. He put a hand on his chest and the other was unfolding as he talked.

"...Yet, I am still Jack, the Pumpkin King!" he exclaimed, louder than the previous quotations. "I should just lock away my feelings..."

The ragdoll walked closer and closer, hiding quickly, picking dead forget-me-nots in the way. Was this all about his popularity? He couldn't show people what he felt?

Suddenly, a hand took something from his suit. Sally recognized it almost instantly, heart racing at the realization.

The forget-me-not looked even prettier under the moonlight. It looked so gorgeous, alive, it was almost as if it hadn't been days since she gave Jack the humble gift.

"Forget-me-nots have this name for a reason." the skeleton put his hand down, flower near the soaked ground. "I can't be so selfish. Not when I don't even know if it's real!"

This time, Zero wasn't around. Jack sighed deeply, spinning the flower on his bony fingers as if it was the first time he did it. He felt so lonely, so melancholic.

"And Jack, the Pumpkin King..." he looked up to the moon, still wearing a sad face. "...Will never be truly happy without it..."

The skeleton was about to walk through the pumpkin patch, and Sally watched him go in his slow steps. And a sudden realization came to her. Was he taking care of her gift since he received it? The thought made Sally sigh in relief and satisfaction.

And she sighed a little bit too loud.

Jack Skellington quickly turned around and walked back to the hill, but not in a fast pace. Was that Sally? The sudden realization she could've heard everything could make his heart stop, if it wasn't already frozen. He suddenly got hit by a wave of nervousness and anticipation, and it became even harder for the gentleman to get closer to Sally's hiding spot.

The doll quickly undid some stitches, taking off her arm to maybe have an excuse to be hiding in there. She curled herself into a ball, forget-me-nots surrounding her as always. She was afraid of his reaction, but was satisfied. Jack Skellington, the ruler of Halloween, was taking care of her gift even when he didn't need to.

He hid the forget-me-not in his suit, and held the grave with his long hands, finding a hiding Sally without an arm. And maybe unconscious, her eyes closed. The skeleton felt the wave of nervousness hitting him again, and his voice wouldn't come out.

"...S-Sally? Did you sigh?"

He could be imagining things.

He walked to the opposite side and sat in front of the ragdoll, confused and nervous. She wasn't responding.

"...Sally?"

The doll opened her eyes slowly, as if she was really waking up, and the first thing she saw was her crush's worried face.

"O-Oh, Jack!" she said loudly, trying to give him a hint of surprise. "I-I, um... What happened?"

Her fake confusion made Jack calm down a little, as he was believing she hadn't heard anything. She sat down in front of him, or at least tried to. When Sally saw her arm was torn off, she kept acting pretty well, eyes wide at the view. The skeleton coughed, trying to find a way to begin.

"I, um..." he was thinking of a good lie. "T-The townspeople were worried about your location, so I was looking for you and... I found you... Like this."

Sally tried to hide a small smile. Ah, he was lying too. At least he hadn't mentioned her sigh. Maybe he had mistaken it for snoring or something?

"I...I'm so dizzy..." she kept pretending, holding her head with a hand. "I can't remember anything..."

Well, a message was transmitted to the skeleton. It wasn't intentional, though. Analyzing the facts, he had an idea.

"Oh, I..." Jack began, pointing at her lost arm. "It looks like you'll need some help with that."

"I-I guess I will..." the creation smiled in embarrassment.

"I-I shall help you, then!" the Pumpkin King tried smiling, feeling awkward in the inside. "I'm not really good at things like this, but I'll try my best..."

Sally then jerked her head, pretending she really wasn't feeling up to it. She gave Jack her needle and some thread, closing her eyes dramatically.

The last thing she did feel was his cold hand delicately holding hers.

o o o o

In fact, Jack was bad at sewing things.

When Sally opened her eyes again, she felt her arm was back, but the stitches were funny to look at. They had no coordination at all, scattered around, some big, some small. The ragdoll laughed weakly, trying not to make it sound like she was mocking the poor skeleton man.

"I-I told you I wasn't very good at it..."

A detail she really liked on his sewing was how it suddenly changed from a place to another. Her arm was messy, but her wrist was stitched so delicately, it was an artist's work. She wondered what caused the sudden transition.

Jack Skellington got up and helped his friend up, too. It was weird to be interacting with her like that, but he liked it.

"I-It's great. Thank you, again..." Sally commented, opening a pretty smile at the Pumpkin King.

Jack took a bit long to get the message, but shook his head, holding her hands as if to reassure her of something.

"Again, Sally..." the skeleton began. "You don't need to keep gifting me. I'm fine with what I already have."

The ragdoll chuckled, remembering that day, and the slender man smiled shyly.

That's when something tries to participate in the conversation.

Coming from his suit, the forget-me-not fell on the ground between the two. Sally stared at it, smiling, and it took longer for Jack to notice its presence. When he did, he almost let a surprised 'ah' out.

The creation picked it up, spinning it like Jack did to it a million times before. Her vivid blue was captivating. Sally then looked Jack in the eye, smiling shyly.

"Were you taking care of it this whole time? It looks almost new!"

"O-Oh, I, um..."

The ragdoll laughed this time, her friend nervously trying to find an excuse.

"I-I... I have to go?" Jack questioned himself. "A-Ah, yes, um, bye, Sally!"

And he bolted to his home, forget-me-not in his hands.

Sally slid to the ground, looking like she was about to melt right there. She was so nervous, and he was so nice to her... Even if it was obvious she was eavesdropping.

The creation looked at her newly-stitched arm again.

"Lock your feelings with a key?" she sighed. "I wish I could hide mine as well as you do...


End file.
